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Tri-discipline events date from the early part of the 20th Century but the modern triathlon really took off with an event held by the San Diego Track Club (USA) on the 25th September 1974 when a 10km run/ 8km cycle/ 500m swim event was held as an alternative to their usual training schedule. This eventually evolved into the famous Ironman competition that has taken place annually in Hawaii since 1978.

The triathlon was given Olympic status in 1989, the same year as the International Triathlon Federation (ITU) was founded. However, the first triathlon event wasn’t held until the Sydney Games of 2000. Since the early 90s Britain has a long history of top athletes in the event, with Simon Lessing becoming the first British world champion in 1992 – he then went on to claim the title in 1995, 1996, and 1998 as well. In recent years the famous British brothers Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee have become faces of the sport, even becoming the first brothers to share a podium in an individual event at the London 2012 Olympic Games, winning gold and bronze respectively.

Triathlon was also recently approved for the Paralympics and is due to make its debut at Rio in 2016.

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Competitors in the famous Ironman challenge take on the first leg
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